143
glacier coverage outside of Greenland and Antarctica (Moholdt 2010; Hagen et al.
1993). The major islands of Svalbard archipelago are Spitsbergen (39,000 km
2
),
Nordaustlandet (14,600 km
2
), Edgeoya (5000 km
2
), Barentsoya (1300 km
2
) including a number of small islands (Hagen and Liestol 1990). Glaciers such as Vestre
Broggerbreen, Austre Broggerbreen, Loverbreen etc. are small valley- type glaciers
located close to Ny-Alesund (78° 55′ 30″ N and 11° 55′ 50″ E) in Spitsbergen island
of the Svalbard Archipelago. The climate of west coast of Svalbard is sub-polar
which is strongly influenced by the North Atlantic Current, a branch of the Gulf
Stream. However, east coast of Svalbard experiences polar climate where the temperature remains around freezing point even in the summer. Since the study area
(Ny-Alesund) is located on the western side of the main island of Spitsbergen, temperatures in the summer months rise above the freezing point. Due to its position at
the northern extremity of a zone of rapid transfer of heat through the Norwegian Sea,
these glaciers are particularly more sensitive to climatic change. Climatic change at
the beginning of this century, particularly warming of the atmosphere, has had a
profound effect on the mass balances and retreat of calving fronts.
The Himalaya is an assembly of mountain ranges stretching east to west over
~2400 km, containing around 38,000 Km
2
of glaciers, glacierets and perennial surface ice (Wagnon et al. 2007). If extended to include Hindukush –Karakoram
-Himalaya (HKKH) the glacerised area would cover around 60,000 km
2
(Azam et al.
2018). The Himalayan region is influenced by two major weather systems viz. the
Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) and the mid-latitude westerlies (Finkel et al. 2003;
Yang et al. 2008) and hence experience contrasting precipitation regimes (Bolch
et al. 2012). The influence of these two weather systems varies both temporally and
spatially. The ISM predominantly influences most of the southern and eastern part of
Himalaya and causes pronounced summer precipitation. The summer precipitation
gradient is orographically controlled; hence the north and north- western regions of
the Himalaya receive scanty monsoon precipitation compared to its southern counterpart. Similarly, the influence of mid-latitude westerlies has its dominant role in the
north-western parts of the Himalaya and Karakoram, and decreases from northwest
to south-eastern parts of Himalayan arc (Benn and Owen 1998).
Chandra basin, the area studied in details and covered in present studies, is an
important part of upper Indus Region of the Western Himalaya and extends over an
area of 2.44 × 10
3
km
2
with elevation extending from 2800 to 6600 m a.s.l. (Fig. 1b).
This basin is located in the Lahaul–Spiti district of western Himalaya and has
~706 km
2
of glaciated area, i.e. ∼30% of the total basin area (Sangewar and Shukla
2009) with approximately ice volume of 28.3 km
3
. There are 201 glaciers in the
basin, only five of which have an area >20 km
2
(Fig. 1b). The basin consists of valley- and mountain-type glaciers flowing north, northeast and northwest. This basin
falls in monsoon–arid transition zone and is alternatively influenced by Indian
Summer Monsoon (ISM) during summer and mid latitude westerlies during winter
(Bookhagen and Burbank 2010). Though there are few meteorological observatories (established in last fifteen years) available in this basin but the data spread is not
good enough due to inaccessibility, high altitude and related logistic issues. We have
installed four meteorological observatories in 2015 for monitoring weather parameters in Chandra basin. The available data suggest that the basin climate is influenced
Glacier Response to Climate in Arctic and Himalaya During Last Seventeen Years…
glacier coverage outside of Greenland and Antarctica (Moholdt 2010; Hagen et al.
1993). The major islands of Svalbard archipelago are Spitsbergen (39,000 km
2
),
Nordaustlandet (14,600 km
2
), Edgeoya (5000 km
2
), Barentsoya (1300 km
2
) including a number of small islands (Hagen and Liestol 1990). Glaciers such as Vestre
Broggerbreen, Austre Broggerbreen, Loverbreen etc. are small valley- type glaciers
located close to Ny-Alesund (78° 55′ 30″ N and 11° 55′ 50″ E) in Spitsbergen island
of the Svalbard Archipelago. The climate of west coast of Svalbard is sub-polar
which is strongly influenced by the North Atlantic Current, a branch of the Gulf
Stream. However, east coast of Svalbard experiences polar climate where the temperature remains around freezing point even in the summer. Since the study area
(Ny-Alesund) is located on the western side of the main island of Spitsbergen, temperatures in the summer months rise above the freezing point. Due to its position at
the northern extremity of a zone of rapid transfer of heat through the Norwegian Sea,
these glaciers are particularly more sensitive to climatic change. Climatic change at
the beginning of this century, particularly warming of the atmosphere, has had a
profound effect on the mass balances and retreat of calving fronts.
The Himalaya is an assembly of mountain ranges stretching east to west over
~2400 km, containing around 38,000 Km
2
of glaciers, glacierets and perennial surface ice (Wagnon et al. 2007). If extended to include Hindukush –Karakoram
-Himalaya (HKKH) the glacerised area would cover around 60,000 km
2
(Azam et al.
2018). The Himalayan region is influenced by two major weather systems viz. the
Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) and the mid-latitude westerlies (Finkel et al. 2003;
Yang et al. 2008) and hence experience contrasting precipitation regimes (Bolch
et al. 2012). The influence of these two weather systems varies both temporally and
spatially. The ISM predominantly influences most of the southern and eastern part of
Himalaya and causes pronounced summer precipitation. The summer precipitation
gradient is orographically controlled; hence the north and north- western regions of
the Himalaya receive scanty monsoon precipitation compared to its southern counterpart. Similarly, the influence of mid-latitude westerlies has its dominant role in the
north-western parts of the Himalaya and Karakoram, and decreases from northwest
to south-eastern parts of Himalayan arc (Benn and Owen 1998).
Chandra basin, the area studied in details and covered in present studies, is an
important part of upper Indus Region of the Western Himalaya and extends over an
area of 2.44 × 10
3
km
2
with elevation extending from 2800 to 6600 m a.s.l. (Fig. 1b).
This basin is located in the Lahaul–Spiti district of western Himalaya and has
~706 km
2
of glaciated area, i.e. ∼30% of the total basin area (Sangewar and Shukla
2009) with approximately ice volume of 28.3 km
3
. There are 201 glaciers in the
basin, only five of which have an area >20 km
2
(Fig. 1b). The basin consists of valley- and mountain-type glaciers flowing north, northeast and northwest. This basin
falls in monsoon–arid transition zone and is alternatively influenced by Indian
Summer Monsoon (ISM) during summer and mid latitude westerlies during winter
(Bookhagen and Burbank 2010). Though there are few meteorological observatories (established in last fifteen years) available in this basin but the data spread is not
good enough due to inaccessibility, high altitude and related logistic issues. We have
installed four meteorological observatories in 2015 for monitoring weather parameters in Chandra basin. The available data suggest that the basin climate is influenced
Glacier Response to Climate in Arctic and Himalaya During Last Seventeen Years…